The Seven Great Awakenings of Master Bát Sơn Beneath His Wise Teacher's Shaking Head

In a small temple at the foot of the mountain, the flickering light of a torch fell upon walls of peeling earthen plaster. The scent of agarwood incense mingled with the cold of the midnight air, deepening the stillness all around. Master Bát Sơn knelt at his teacher's feet, palms joined before his chest, his heart pounding with the excitement of one who had just escaped the darkness of ignorance.

"Venerable teacher, I have just awakened. My mind is free and luminous, like the sun at high noon!" he said, unable to conceal the note of pride in his voice.

The old teacher simply looked at him in silence, then shook his head without a single word. This was the first awakening among the harsh trials he would have to pass through. The reason went back many years, when he had resolved to take up meditation, deepening his practice day after day as he sat beneath the rosewood tree. Yet his teacher had never once given him recognition, not even a single word of praise.

He stepped out into the courtyard, his trembling hand clutching the sleeve of his robe. A struggle tore within his heart: "I saw my own mind blaze bright. Why does my teacher say it is not so? Could I truly be mistaken?" A fellow monk passing by offered comfort: "Brother, do not grieve. Our teacher has always been strict. Even if you had truly awakened, he might never acknowledge it."

"No. Our teacher is a wise master, and his words are never wrong. There must be some delusion still left in me," he replied, as tears fell quietly down to his wrist.

He returned to his sitting meditation, and when a second awakening dawned, he rushed to report to his teacher: "Venerable teacher, this time I have truly broken through. I no longer cling to self!"

"Not so." The teacher only shook his head, his eyes without a single ripple.

Quietly he withdrew and continued to apply himself in practice. Yet year after year went by, and he awakened seven times in all. Seven times he ran joyfully to report to his teacher, and seven times he received nothing but that shaking head. Once he asked, "Venerable teacher, I have awakened to this extent—where am I still wrong?" "Keep practicing. Do not ask," the teacher answered curtly, then turned away.

The turning point came one afternoon, when he walked into the temple's old outhouse. Its wooden walls were bare and open, and sitting there one could see the clouds drifting softly in the sky beyond. He sat down, his mind no longer seeking awakening, and simply rested at ease as he watched a man climbing a tree in the courtyard outside.

"How is it that as I watch this man climb a tree, I suddenly see so clearly the very roots of birth and death?" he exclaimed. In that instant, a deep and complete enlightenment blazed forth, unlike any of the times before.

He hurried inside, breathless, and stood before his teacher: "Venerable teacher, I watched a man climbing a tree, and suddenly I attained perfect and complete enlightenment!"

"It is good." This time the teacher nodded, and a rare smile appeared on his lips, as he formally confirmed that his disciple had attained complete enlightenment.

From then on, Master Bát Sơn never fell into self-satisfaction. Though he had been acknowledged, he continued his gradual cultivation with great care, like one walking across thin ice. In later years he became an eminent teacher, and he passed down this truth: attaining enlightenment is only the first step. After it comes the need for a wise teacher to press one onward, and for effort that never ceases. For the rest of his life he dwelt in meditative concentration, no longer running to report his awakenings as he had in the days of old.

The Meaning of the Story

Even after sudden awakening, one still needs long and gradual cultivation, along with the guidance of a wise teacher, so as not to fall into complacency. A person of good spiritual roots who meets a strict teacher will not stop at shallow awakening, but through humble perseverance in practice will attain perfect and complete enlightenment.

Compiled from a dharma talk by Venerable Thích Chân Quang